Percy Sutton set the standard for how to be and was the embodiment of excellence in everything he did. I was part of a film crew interviewing Mr. Sutton in the mid-1980’s and two things he said have stayed with me. He spoke about persistence saying that it took him sixty-two presentations of his business plan, and I forget if it was for a license or a loan, but the lesson was, if you know it’s right, keep at it. And teaching also about initiative and goal-setting, he said that if he were stripped of everything, and here he waved around his wonderful old office of wood and forest green, and he said if he were stripped of everything, he would build it again, starting by making and bagging cookies, and selling them on the street.
Percy Sutton was self-made style, class and a whole lot of smart, funny and smooth as silk. Someone on the crew at the time may even had said, “That brother is smooth.” If so, it would have been met with unanimous agreement. The next we saw him was at his L.A. station, where in a room of cool cats, in came Mr. Sutton, the coolest cat in the room. If Fred Astaire were a Black businessman, he’d be Percy Sutton. He was then, and as I later learned, always immaculately dressed. Both David Dinkins and Charlie Rangel speak of him as a mentor, and you can see it in their attire and how they conduct themselves, having had before them the gold standard to model after.
Percy Sutton was a Race man. He continually sought to empower African-Americans, in his politics, his businesses and the stands he took on social issues. Percy Sutton’s biography tells the story of the extraordinary life of a purposeful man. An African-American whose lifework empowered his people and set an example of what to aspire to for those who met him.
When you’ve seen a life lived like this, then you know it is true, the blood of kings runs in our veins. David Mark Greaves
Sutton: He Set The Standard
LEOLA MADDOX SPEAKS On Alton, On Life, On Being Black in America
LEOLA MADDOX SPEAKS
On Alton, On Life, On Being Black in America
(Our Time Press, 1998
But her refusal to testify is interesting. She could have supported him. I feel she didn’t want to because she would have been caught in perjury. For her to say that she knew where he was, I believe is a lie! She would have committed perjury. And as a lawyer, that would have been a double whammy for her. As for this alibi — a photograph of his leg, he needs to go somewhere! Pagones worked as an assistant D.A. and he calls a photograph of his leg, an alibi?
Alton went to law school before we got married. His thing was, “You know that I want to work with poor people and you know there is no money in a law firm whose clients are poor.” He asked me, “Would you be OK with that?” So all of this was discussed prior to marriage, and when you go into it knowing the truth, that you’re not going to be rolling in dough, it doesn’t bother you if you have to sell hotdogs; you just sell hotdogs.
How has it affected me? When he lost his license that meant I had to go out and get a second job. I had to contribute more to the household. As long as he knew and I knew that what he was doing was correct, you don’t look at it as something that is affecting me. It’s just trying to make a contribution to what he was doing. That is the kind of law he wanted to do, it was never about making money. For Alton, it’s always been about what kind of contribution he can make to his people, and what kind of contribution he can make to children. He feels that children need strong role models, not role models who say, “Yes, Sir!, No Sir!, How high should I jump, Sir?!” And that’s why he said when they tried to take his license, ‘We don’t have to go through a trial.’ He could have done like Jessie and apologized. Two or three judges asked Alton to just apologize (for not revealing to a Grievance Committee information about his client Tawana Brawley). Alton said, ‘How would it look to children if I apologize and I didn’t do anything to apologize for.’ So he refused. They told him if he wanted to have this case ended all he had to do was apologize. Now my granddaughter, Malaysia, wants to be a lawyer. She’s tired of people picking on her ‘dindad’. She wants to hurry up and grow up so she can help him. My grandson is sure to follow Malaysia since she, being older, is his role model.
And my son, Charles, sometimes can’t stand for people to pick on his father. His daughter, Malaysia is a lot like him. He works for my husband. He doesn’t want to see people abuse his father, and he watches as his father sits there and just smiles. Charles, says he will never go into law. First Meeting: It was a blind date. Two of my colleagues I worked with decided I was spending too much time alone, so they said, ‘Don’t you want to meet somebody?’ It happened to be Alton. We met, we dated and we were married in three months, 32 years ago. We came to New York for one year in 1973 and we’re still here. We were supposed to be here for one year. That’s the biggest change in our lives. I would like to go back to Georgia, not that I regret being here.
And now it really doesn’t matter as much as it did before because my mother and my grandmother are now deceased. I was a Mama and a Grandmama’s baby. I was very, very, very close to them. Whenever my son would get sick, I called my mother and my grandmother. And …well I haven’t told too many people but there was a time when I couldn’t cook. I was always around people who liked to cook, so I didn’t have to. So every meal I made I had to call my mother and grandmother to talk me through it.
African-centered Life:
Love of my race was instilled in me at an early age. The first time I had white teachers was in graduate school Up South in Boston, Mass. By the time I was in my 20’s, it was already instilled in me to be proud of who you are and you never met Can’t ‘cause Can’t died, according to my teacher, before they were born. We never had anybody who taught us anything different. Even in graduate school, I could see the difference. I could see that our children had a problem. Even in graduate school they would tell me I was doing “C,” “B” or “B-” work , when I knew I was doing “A” work. I was always taught to speak my mind and in graduate school I had a teacher who told me that the only black people who made contributions to our race were people with PHD’s like Dr. King. So I read him. I said to him in front of the class, “Have you ever heard of Fannie Lou Hamer?” He said, “No.” So I started to tell him about Fannie Lou Hamer. Needless to say that man gave me a “C” even though I did outstanding work — just because I embarrassed him in the class. I’m Black and he’s going to tell me who made a contribution to the race. Because he didn’t do any homework, the only Black leader he ever heard of was Dr. King.
On Tawana Brawley:
Alton did give up his career for the Tawana Brawley case. They used Tawana as the case, but it wasn’t Tawana they wanted. I believe they wanted to get him for walking that Black kid out of the court for killing the priest. The press had convicted that kid in the newspapers before they had the facts, and then when the kid was set free, they didn’t know what to do.
I have degrees in History and Education. I minored in Library Science. It didn’t take me long to know I didn’t want to teach. I went back to school and got my library science degree. (Note: Mrs. Maddox is a librarian at Medgar Evers College in Brooklyn.)
I attended the high school of Manchester, Ga.. I went to Fort Valley State College, Boston State University and Simmons College. By having black teachers, we got a little more black history back in Georgia. Even though it was not in the books, these black teachers taught us what they knew. Also, in Georgia, the Black Teachers Association owned everything. Adam Clayton Powell told us not to vote to merge with the white organizations. The whites did not have a building; we had a building. Powell told us he would give it 10 years. He predicted the South will be like the North. He gave us a warning. He said there would be fewer black teachers.
Right after the Black Teachers Association voted to merge, a National Teachers’ Exam was instituted. All of those great, older teachers had to go back and pass those exams, after they had been teaching a hundred years! They told the old teachers they had to pass the exam with high grades. Right away Black teachers started leaving the profession. How were they going to pass this exam when much of the material had never been taught to them when they were younger. We lost so much when we lost them, the least of which was a connection to everything that makes us strong.
The Tawana Brawley Case: TIMELINE From Wappinger’s Falls, NY 1987 to Poughkeepsie, NY 1998
From Wappinger’s Falls, NY 1987 to Poughkeepsie, NY 1998
1987
Nov. 24 State Trooper Scott Patterson and Part-time policeman Harry Crist take
Patterson’s pickup truck to the Newburgh area.
Nov. 24 – Mrs. Buxton, mother of Tawana’s boyfriend, reports that she and Tawana
are followed in Newburgh by two white men in a pickup truck.
Nov. 24 – Patterson, son of the second in command of the New York State Police,
reports that he had driven Crist within a couple of blocks and within 15 minutes
of where and when 15 year old Ketcham High School honors student Tawana Brawley
would have been walking that evening.
Nov. 24 – Tawana Brawley got off a Shortline bus returning from Ms. Buxtons’
house. She later reports that she was kidnapped and raped over a four day
period.
Dutchess County Assistant District Attorney Steven Pagones, son of Judge Anthony
Pagones, gave the following as his whereabouts during the kidnapping. He
presented no witnesses to corroborate his story.
Nov. 24 – At work
25 – -At home
26 – Thanksgiving
27 – Family gathering
Nov 28 – Pagones, Part-time Police Officer Harry Crist, State Trooper Scott
Patterson, son of second in command of the New York State Police, and Gene
Branson allegedly drive to Danbury, Conn. mall to shop for their girlfriends
from 11am to 3-4pm. They use Crist’s car, a former police cruiser. Pagones has
testified that at 11:30am Harry Crist asked him, “Did you hear about the girl
they found in the bag of shit?” Pagones has testified that during the ride,
Crist pointed a gun at him and said, “I’ll blow your brains out.”
Nov 28 – Mailman Tim Losee sees a car with four white men driving slowly through
the area where Tawana Brawley was found. The description of the car was, “Like
an old trooper car.” Later he identifies a newspaper photo of Patterson as the
possible driver.
Nov 28 – 2:00pm Tawana Brawley is found near a dumpster in a plastic bag. Deputy
Sheriff Eric Thurston reports Ms. Brawley is half-naked, curled up in a fetal
position and without underwear She is covered with feces and has “KKK nigger
bitch” is written on her torso. The ambulance team finds no dilation of pupils
and no response to ammonia capsules. At St. Francis Hospital, the medical report
revealed masses of hair ripped from her head, she is, “unresponsive,
unconscious, shallow breathing” There is notation of a collection of blood
around her pubic area. It notes that the teenager’s severe injuries were the
result of “probable sexual assault.” Officer Tommy Young, Poughkeepsie’s only
Black cop, interviews Ms. Brawley. When asked to identify her attackers, she
grabs his badge. Later she writes, “white cop”. Sheriff’s office arson
investigator, Detective Brazelli is given the rape kit for transport. He
delivers the kit to the lab three days later. It is later learned that Detective
Brazelli is a friend of Steven Pagones.
Nov 30 – Tawana Brawley is interviewed at her home by Hilda Kolgut of the FBI in
the Southern District and a close friend of Steven Pagones. Other Pagones
associates present for the interview are co-workers Marjorie Smith, sex crimes
Assistant District Attorney from the Dutchess County District Attorney’s office,
and C. Otto Williams, an African American and Senior Assistant District
Attorney. A detective from the Dutchess County Sheriff’s office conducted the
interview. Also present were family members, neighbors, members of the NAACP and
the Human Rights Commission. Tawana describes a white cop with sandy blond hair
and a moustache. The family requests an artist to do a sketch, and pictures of
local police. Both requests were denied.
Dec. 1 – Pagones, Patterson and Crist allegedly spend time together lifting
weights at Crist’s home.
Dec. 1 – 11:00-11:30 Crist is shot dead at his home.
Dec 2 – Body of Police Officer Harry Crist is found by Scott Patterson.
Originally termed a suicide, now acknowledged to be a death by gunshot. There’s
no evidence found indicating a suicide.
Dec. 3 – Pathologist examines Crist’s body. No powder burns on hands. State
Police bring the body with no crime scene photos, no weapon and no “suicide
note.” The pathologist, says, “I can’t say it’s a suicide.” His Autopsy Report
for Crist, describes the body as “that of a young Caucasian male, with
moustache, measuring 70 inches and weighing approximately 190 lbs. The hair is
short, dark brown in color and the eyes are hazel.” The cause of death is listed
as “Massive brain injury and hemorrhage secondary to a single gunshot wound of
the head.” The word “suicide” does not appear anywhere in the report.
The New York State Police and the Press report Crist’s death as a suicide.
Dec. – State Trooper Scott Patterson refuses to answer questions about Crist’s
death.
Dec. 7 – Informant tells Asst. Dist. O’Neill that Crist was a racist, had
problems with women, and that “there was something about how this fellow Scott
Patterson, the trooper, had found Harry Crist and had retained the note for a
longer period of time than he should have. This information was in a
memorandum.” (DA Grady testimony)
Dec. 8 – District Attorney William Grady meets with Steven Pagones who is one of
his Assistant DA’s.
Dec. 12 – Demonstration in Poughkeepsie marks the beginning of The December 12th
Movement.
Dec. 23 – State Police and Sheriff’s office, w/consent of the District Attorney,
have Tawana’s boyfriend call Tawana and question her about the rape. They record
the conversation. “During the course of that phone call Tawana Brawley was heard
to have stated that the person who did this to her was the white cop who shot
himself in Wappingers.” (DA Grady testimony)
1988
Jan. 6 – Grady begins to present evidence to the grand jury. The Brawleys, who
are being advised by Maddox, refuse to cooperate. Maddox , in receipt of
information that a high official in the D.A.’s office was involved in the
matter, sees a conflict of interest with the local DA’s office, Attorney Maddox
demands that the current District Attorney of Dutchess County, WIlliam Grady,
recuse himself.
Jan. 13 – Mailman Tim Losee is interviewed by ADA William O’Neill. Describes car
with four white men.
Jan. 13 – Attorney Maddox holds press conference and “again reiterated that in
the family’s mind Harry Crist is a suspect who was aperson who should be
pursued, and why weren’t photographs shown to Tawana Brawley?
Jan. 14 – ADA Steven Pagones is interviewed by ADA William O’Neill. O’Neill
describes match of identification of car and occupants. Mr. Pagones claimed to
be in Danbury, Connecticut. He remembers that they were in Danbury because
around 11:30am “Harry asked us about a girl in a bag of feces.” (Approximately
two hours before Tawana was found.)
Jan. 19 – Pagones meets with good friend Hilda Kolgut of the FBI. Says he’s not
talking without a lawyer.
Jan 19 – Newsday publishes story that Reverend Sharpton wore a wire in a past
investigation.
Jan 20 – Grady withdraws from the case, citing an undisclosed conflict of
interest.
Jan. 25 – Judge Judith Hillary writes to Governor Cuomo Aide and names Steven
Pagones as a suspect and cause of a conflict of interest in Dutchess County
District Attorney’s office. Requests State help in appointing a prosecutor
Jan. 27 – Governor Mario Cuomo appoints Attorney General Robert Abrams special
prosecutor.
Feb. 11 – Steven Pagones retains a lawyer. Tells his lawyer that he will not
cooperate with the FBI and will not take a polygraph test.
Feb. 17 – Poughkeepsie Journal names Pagones as a suspect.
Feb. 20 – Grady disqualifies citing a conflict of interest.
Feb. 21- Local attorney David Sall appointed as prosecutor. Tells Glenda
Brawley, “I don’t care if you’re white, black or polkadot.”
Feb. 22 – After reviewing the files, David Sall disqualifies himself, saying,
“No one in Dutchess County can prosecute this case.”
Mar. 4 Pagones is examined by a doctor for stress related illness. The doctor’s
records show Pagones reporting he had the condition for the last three months.
Mar. 13 – Alton Maddox, Al Sharpton, C. Vernon Mason hold a press conference.
Maddox made the following statements, “He was one of the attackers, yes. If I
didn’t have direct evidence, I wouldn’t be sitting here saying that.” “We don’t
want to outline to Pagones what evidence we have. He’s still a law enforcement
official and is in the position to retaliate against the family.” And regarding
Harry Crist, “He did not commit suicide, he was murdered.” C. Vernon Mason said,
“What we have here is an official, an officially sanctioned conspiracy to
obstruct and prevent justice in the case of Tawana Brawley.” All of these
statement were ruled NOT defamatory. At the same press conference, Maddox said,
“Steven Pagones had known the Brawley family for some time. He lived on the same
street as the Brawley family. Less than two years ago. He had eyed Tawana
Brawley before.” He also said, “He (District Attorney Grady) knew one of his
Assistant District Attorneys was involved in the abuse of Tawana Brawley.”
March 14 – FBI contacts Pagones. He refuses cooperation.
Mar. 30 – FBI Threatens Pagones.
Mar. 31 – On the “People Are Talking” talk show broadcast by the WWOR-Television
Network at its studios in New York City, in response to this question by Richard
Bey: “I guess its hard for people to believe that a police officer and an
assistant district attorney would work in coercion together to go out, kidnap a
black teenager and rape her”. Defendant, Rev. Al Sharpton, stated in response:
“We stated openly that Steven Pagones, the Assistant District Attorney did it.
His lawyers say he may or may not sue us. If we’re lying, sue us, so we can go
into Court with you and prove you did it. I’ll use your show to dare them to sue
us – sue us right now. We are saying Steven Pagones did it. Now if Steven
Pagones didn’t do it, why isn’t he suing us?” Jury ruled Defamatory, but that
Sharpton did not know it was false.
April 4 – FBI memorandum re: “Changing the thrust of the investigation.”
April 5 – Pagones visits doctor.
April 15 – Al Sharpton made the following statement: “The point is that we have
named Steven Pagones and others and if Ms. Brawley’s given an impartial
prosecutor, we can put them in jail…The investigation now is on every crack
addict in Newburgh rather than an investigation of the alleged suspect. Most
investigators go after suspects. Why aren’t the investigators looking at Pagones
and the people we’ve named?” Jury Deadlocked on defamation.
June 15 – At the Phil Donohue show broadcast by the NBC and filmed at the
Bethany Baptist Church in Brooklyn, made the following statements: …”of semi-
conscious – with excrement all over her body, with urine in her mouth, cotton in
her nose and in her ears, she said and has proven that six white men, one named
Steven Pagones. I’ll repeat it again, Assistant District Attorney of Dutchess
County, another one, William Patterson, another one, Harry Crist were among
those that attacked her…That the key question Miss – we have said what
happened to Tawana, we said we can prove it, we said we’ve got the evidence. If
they really want to resolve it, call our bluff…Mr. Pagones’ father is a judge
and the head of the Democratic Party in that part of the County. And Mr.
Patterson’s father is the No. 2 man for the New York State Police – he is very
close to the Governor – and these people would rather die than have a black girl
put them in jail. But put them in jail they will. These people will go to jail.”
This was ruled defamatory, but he did not know it was false.
June 18 – Pagones marries.
June 30 – Pagones visits doctor.
Aug. 2 – Pagones testifies before a Grand Jury.
Aug. – United African Movement is launched in support of Brawley and all African
American women.
Sept. 2 – Pagones visits Doctor.
Oct. 6 – The state grand jury concludes there is no evidence to support
Brawley’s story and “exonerates” Pagones.
Oct. 31 Pagones files an $800 million slander lawsuit against Tawana Brawley,
Alton Maddox, C. Vernon Mason and Al Sharpton. He claimed advisers to Tawana
Brawley defamed him when they accused him of participating in the alleged kidnap
and rape of the Wappinger’s Falls teenager.
Nov. Maddox requests deposition of Pagones. Pagones seeks to quash deposition.
He is unsuccessful.
1989
February 28 – State Supreme Court Justice Ralph Beisner dismisses 36 causes of
action against Sharpton and Maddox.
Sept. Pagones goes to Appellate division to get a restraining order to preclude
his deposition.
Oct. – Judicial Grievance Committee sends Maddox a letter telling him to bring
all files on Tawana Brawley and appear at a hearing to tell them everything
Tawana had told him. Maddox refuses.
1990
May 21 – Attorney Alton Maddox is suspended from practicing law for refusing to
appear before a judicial grievance committee investigating his conduct in the
Brawley case. Maddox says he will not undermine his lawyer/client privilege.
Nov. – Rudolph Giuliani, former Prosecutor, Southern District, is elected Mayor
of New York City.
1991
May 7 – State Supreme court Justice Ralph Beisner rules Brawley intentionally
inflicted emotional distress on Pagones when her advisers accused him of
abducting and assaulting her.
1990-1993
Several judges in Dutchess County decline to try the case.
1995 Judge Hickman, a friend of George Pataki’s from nearby Putnam County is
selected to try the case.
1997
Jan-Aug. – Depositions taken.
Oct. 28 – Judge Hickman rules that Maddox will not be able to present witnesses
to provide evidence to support his claim that Pagones was involved in the rape
of Miss Brawley and the death of Harry Crist. He rules in his motion that
Crist’s death “had no connection with Tawana Brawley.” He also rules that
Pagones does not have to verify his alibi with witnesses, and if called they
will not be permitted to testify. He rules the defendants could not question the
Grand Jury report, and that Maddox and Mason could not assert the
“attorney-client privilege”. This because the Brawley family had not “come
forward to document the fact that either Maddox or Mason or both were retained
to represent Ms. Brawley; and “there is nothing definitive in the record to
explain how Rev. Sharpton suddenly became the religious adviser to (her)”.
Said Maddox: “Justice Hickman obviously relied upon (the Dred Scott) decision to
rule against (me), Mason, Sharpton and Brawley. This decision is necessary in
order to insulate Pagones from a criminal indictment. Also, Pagones had said he
had more than 50 witnesses who could account for every minute of the day that he
was accused of being with Brawley, but now the judge is saying (he) doesn’t have
to present even one witness.
Nov. 13 – Trial begins at the Dutchess County Courthouse in Poughkeepsie, New
York.
Nov. 18 Jury selection.
Dec. 2 – Brawley breaks her 10-year silence, speaking at Bethany Baptist Church
in Brooklyn. “If I had read everything about me in the past 10 years, I would
say it was a hoax, too. But it happened to me and I am not a liar,” she tells a
crowd of nearly 800 people.
1998
Jan. 13 – Judge Hickman rules there is no compelling reason for former Gov.
Mario Cuomo and former state Attorney General Robert Abrams to come to
Poughkeepsie to testify at the trial, although they both played roles in the
Brawley probe. Because of this ruling, the advisers can not call Cuomo and
Abrams as witnesses.
April 17 – Members of the Committee to Eliminate Media Offensive to African
People (CEMOTAP) conduct a press conference in Poughkeepsie to complain about
media coverage of the trial.
April 29 – Jackson is jailed overnight for being cited for contempt for a third
time. Rev. Sharpton offers to serve the jail term for Jackson. Hickman rejects
Sharpton’s proposal.
June 26 – Judge Hickman issues a ruling that there is evidence to support most
of Pagones’ claims that he was defamed and rejects the defendants’ motions to
quash the plaintiff’s accusation against them.
July 13 – The jury finds all three defendants liable for defaming Pagones. It
finds Rev. Al Sharpton liable for seven statements, Alton H. Maddox liable for
two and C. Vernon Mason liable for one. Eleven other statements of the 22
statements Pagones’ found to be defamatory were not slanderous, the jury
determined. It is a partial victory for the defendants. A lone juror — a black
woman — refuses to sign the verdict sheet.
July 14 – Robert Abrams, (calling WABC Radio in from a meeting of the National
Association of Attorneys General, SAGE, Society of Attorneys General Emeritus in
Colorado): “I extend congratulations to Steven Pagones…There’s no amount of
money that can compensate for the kind of pain he has suffered, he has endured,
he has been put through. As I reflect on this, I’m proud of the fact, here we
are ten years later, and the Grand Jury report stays intact.
“The Grand Jury said that the allegations made by Tawana Brawley namely that she
was abducted by four white men or a group of white men who were attached to law
enforcement and held in the woods against her will for a four- day period and
repeatedly raped. That allegation was false.
“There was no indication whatever that she was physically raped. There was a
rape test conducted when she was taken to the hospital… If a person was held
against her will, repeatedly raped in the out of doors, there would have been
all kinds of physical evidence that would have indicated that. So what I think
what this verdict does and this trial did do, was to show that the investigation
that was conducted which was done by a team of extremely professional and
dedicated investigators headed on a day-to-day basis by a fantastic public
servant, Jack Ryan, who was assistant Attorney General in charge of the criminal
prosecutions bureau, and I was designated the Special Prosecutor. I took full
responsibility for the investigation and put Jack Ryan in charge of the
day-to-day activity of the investigation.”
July 29 Jury awards damages. $5,000 ea. For compensatory damages. Punitive
Damages – $96,000 Maddox, $60,000 Sharpton, $186,000 C. Vernon Mason.
Appeals filed.
Percy Sutton: A Visionary Giant Passes
Pioneering Lawyer, Percy Sutton Passes Away
December 27, 2009
Percy Sutton, attorney for Malcolm X, dead at 89
Former NY Mayor Dinkins (l) and Percy Sutton in 2006
NEW YORK – Percy Sutton, the pioneering civil rights attorney who represented Malcolm X before launching successful careers as a political power broker and media mogul, died Saturday at age 89.
Marissa Shorenstein, a spokeswoman for Gov. David Paterson, confirmed Sutton’s death. She did not know the cause. His daughter, Cheryl Sutton, declined to comment when reached by phone at her New York City home on Saturday before midnight.
The son of a slave, Percy Sutton became a fixture on 125th Street in Harlem after moving to New York City following his service with the famed Tuskegee Airmen in World War II. His Harlem law office, founded in 1953, represented Malcolm X and the slain activist’s family for decades.
The consummate politician, Sutton served in the New York State Assembly before taking over as Manhattan borough president in 1966, becoming the highest-ranking black elected official in the state.
Sutton also mounted unsuccessful campaigns for the U.S. Senate and mayor of New York, and served as political mentor for the Rev. Jesse Jackson’s two presidential races.
“The godfather,” Jackson once called him.
In a statement released Saturday night, Gov. David Paterson called Sutton a mentor and “one of New York’s and this nation’s most influential African-American leaders.”
“Percy was fiercely loyal, compassionate and a truly kind soul,” Paterson continued. “He will be missed but his legacy lives on through the next generations of African-Americans he inspired to pursue and fulfill their own dreams and ambitions.”
In 1971, with his brother Oliver, Sutton purchased WLIB-AM, making it the first black-owned radio station in New York City. His Inner City Broadcasting Corp. eventually picked up WBLS-FM, which reigned for years as New York’s top-rated radio station, before buying stations in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Detroit and San Antonio between 1978-85.
The Texas purchase marked a homecoming for the suave and sophisticated Sutton, born in San Antonio on Nov. 24, 1920, the youngest of 15 children.
Among Sutton’s other endeavors was his purchase and renovation of the famed Apollo Theater when the Harlem landmark’s demise appeared imminent. (more)
The death of a true pioneer, and well spoken gentleman.
From: http://btx3.wordpress.com/2009/12/27/pioneering-lawyer-percy-sutton-passes-away/